This is the third installment in just 12 months of what’s becoming college football’s premier rivalry. LSU, under coach Les Miles, took their regular-season bout last year, but Nick Saban’s Alabama won the big-kahuna rematch in January’s national-championship game.

In those pair of games, it was No. 1 vs. No. 2. Now it’s undefeated Alabama that’s No. 1, while LSU comes in at No. 5 after its sole loss to Florida last month. Accordingly, bettors favor Alabama by eight points. That seems steep given that LSU has perhaps the best home-field advantage tonight in Tiger Stadium, a.k.a. Death Valley, where it hasn’t lost since Oct. 2009. But then again, the Crimson Tide’s smallest winning margin this season has been 19 points; they blew out then No. 11 Mississippi State last week 38-7.

The matchup to watch tonight will be Alabama’s offensive line versus LSU’s defensive line. Both are considered the country’s best, with the Tide led by center Barrett Jones and the Tigers anchored by two future first-round draft picks in Sam Montgomery and Barkevious “I double-checked-the-spelling-of-both-the-first-and-last-names” Mingo.

One thing not to expect in this game: a lot of scoring. LSU won their 2011 regular-season game 9-6. In overtime. The BCS title game was 21-0. If you want to see some Madden videogame-like offenses, please switch over to Oregon-USC.

And the CBS telecast has started. I just switched over from the Notre Dame-Pittsburgh game, where the Fighting Irish juuuuust escaped with their undefeated record after triple overtime. Please, please, please let this game be as exciting.

CBS just played a montage of Alabama and LSU last year. I’m pretty sure that was Les Miles saying, “This is Death Valley, where opponents’ dream come to die.” I briefly got confused and thought this was an official LSU ad. It’s not. But it should be. You’re welcome, LSU administration.

And we’re back to the Mettenberger that we all know and love. After Hill gets stuffed on first down, Mettenburger overthrows Odell Beckham on a playaction pass. On third down, he overthrows Beckham yet again, which was probably a good thing for LSU since the receiver was double covered.

Good news for people who feared another 9-6 game: Alabama comes out aggressively. On first down, McCarron finds Christion Jones for seven yards. The bad news: He throws out of bounds on second down, and then on third finds Michael Williams, who drops the ball after getting whacked. Alabama to punt.

It looks as if Williams would’ve have been short even if he had caught that ball. Cody Mandell comes out to punt. Beckham shows off his Barry Sanders impersonation on a 12-yard return, but it’s all moot as LSU gets flagged for an illegal block in the back. LSU starts at its own 26.

Two quick first downs for LSU! Mettenberger finds Jarvis Landry for five yards, before Michael Ford moves the sticks with a run to the right. The LSU line opens another big hole, this time for Jeremy Hill who thunders 10 yards to the Alabama 35.

Jeremy Hill looked as if he was going to make a true-freshman mistake when, after finding no space between his tackles, he decided to run backwards and to the left. He somehow turned the corner to gain four yards. But Mettenberger then overthrows an open Chase Clement and, on third down, can’t squeeze in a pass to well-covered Landry. Drew Alleman will come out for a 38-yard field goal.

That opens it up for McCarron for a playaction pass and – OH! He overthrows a wide-open Amari Cooper downfield, who had beaten his man and would’ve definitely scored a touchdown if he could’ve gotten his hands on it.

That big run sets up another playaction pass for McCarron. He overthrows Norwood, who then gets flagged for offensive pass interference. The CBS announcers called it a “ticky-tacky” call, and I think I would have to agree. The 15-yard penalty means 1st and 25 for ‘Bama.

The Tide give it to Lacy on first down, who breaks a few tackles for nine yards. On second down, McCarron can’t get a good pass to Lacy. The ball bounces off his hands and is oh-so-close to being intercepted. On third and long, McCarron can only find Jones for six yards. Saban decides to trust his defense and punts on fourth and 10, even though his team is on the LSU 39

Mettenberger is looking better than McCarron so far, finding JC Copeland and Nic Jacobs for short gains that get a first down at the LSU 34. And then a brilliant misdirection play from LSU: Mettenberger takes the snap, turns to his left and pitches it to Hill, who rushes down the right side of the field for a 19 yard gain.

Mettenberger just reversed all the good his did on first down. Rolling out to the left to pass, he gets chased down from behind by Dee Milliner, who brings him down for a nine yard sack. On second down, LSU gets six yards back on a Michael Ford rush.

On third and 13, Mettenberger drops back and gets sacked from behind almost immediately. He didn’t have a chance since he had to wait for his receivers to get downfield. Wing is out to punt, and the Tide calls for a fair catch and their own 8.

Even on TV, Death Valley sounds deafening right now. Alabama running back TJ Yeldon puts on his best honey-badger-don’t-care impersonation by ripping off a 15 yard run down the left sideline. McCarron follows up with a playaction pass to Kelly Johnson for 10 yards and another first down.

Just as LSU rode their ground game to their first-quarter field goal, ‘Bama is doing the same. Three straight handoffs to Yeldon yield six, 12 and two yards respectively. It’s second and eight for the Tide on the LSU 22.

First and goal for Alabama! After Lacy gains two yards to set up a third and six, the Tide pull off a weird play. It looks as if McCarron was making a short screen pass to Christion Jones on the right, but Jones takes the pass and cuts back to the left side, turns the corner and gets to the LSU 7.

I’m editing and monitoring Twitter, where the top 10 trending topics currently include 6 college football references. “LSU” was Number 2 for a moment, but just disappeared off the radar. Oh, now it’s back. No love for ‘Bama, though, it seems.

Touchdown Tide! Lacy takes the handoff as his O-Line clears room for him down the right side. He’s barely touched as he enters the end zone on his feet. Jeremy Shelly tacks on the extra point as Alabama goes up four.

That was a great all-around drive by the Tide, who had to go 92 yards after LSU’s punter extraordinaire (how often do I get to say that?) pinned them down at their own 8. The Tide gained 48 yards on the ground and 42 in the air.

Oof, a bad decision by Michael Ford to take the Alabama kickoff out of the end zone. He was on his heels when he caught the ball and made it to only the LSU 12. Here’s the CBS announcers’ description. “That is a mistake.” “No, no, no.”

I was just about to type that the momentum was rolling back to Alabama, since they just forced LSU to go three and out. But after Wing booms his punt, Cyrus Jones can’t handle it! The ball rolls out of his hands and LSU’s Jerqwinick Sandolph pounces on it at the Alabama 32.

Hill gets the ball and breaks into the open field, rushing 19 yards before being dragged down by three Tide defenders. But that’s negated when, er, someone on Alabama gets flagged for offensive unnecessary roughness. I can’t figure out what happened, and the CBS announcers can’t seem to either. Anyway, that penalty negates Hill’s run and moves the ball back to Alabama 28.

A bad series for LSU: Hill rushes for one yards before Mettenberger throws incomplete. LSU tries a screen pass to Landry on third and 9, but he’s tackled behind the line of scrimmage for a three-yard loss. So much for LSU’s dreams of scoring an offensive touchdown against Alabama, which, by the way, they did not do in their last meetings.

Alleman comes out for the field goal, and LSU decides to fake it! But Alabama is all over it! The holder took the snap and pitched it to Alleman, who was running down the left. But Alabama quickly tackles the less-than-swift kicker.

Well, that botched fake didn’t end up hurting LSU too much. Yeldon rushes two yards, and then McCarron can’t find receivers on second and third down. Cody Mandell comes out and lofts what the CBS announcers praise as a “Brad Wing”-like punt, a 56-yarder that rolls out of bounds around the LSU 9. Yes, the highlights of the game so far have revolved around punting.

I was about to fall asleep but, suddenly, Mettenberger finds Spencer Ware for 38 yards! Ware was running a simple slant down the middle, but he beat his man and then appeared to drag three defenders with him until he was taken down at midfield.

LSU picks up another quick first down after a seven-yard Mettenberger pass and a three-yard Ware rush. But after an eight-yard pass, Ware gets stuffed on a run to set up a big third and four on the Alabama 37. LSU will take a time out to think about it.

And here comes the LSU pass rush! McCarron gets sacked from behind by Sam Montgomery. Actually, looking at the replay, you can credit that sack to the LSU secondary, who gave McCarron nowhere to throw. Alabama calls a timeout to stop the clock

On second and 15 from their own 43, McCarron tosses a screen pass to Lacy on the left. With blockers in front of him, he gets 18 yards before going out of bounds at the LSU 39. Alabama still has two timeouts left and should be able to get three, if not seven, points.

McCarron has Kevin Norwood on the right side for 11 yards, which gives Alabama another first down and stops the clock briefly. On first and 10, McCarron throws incomplete over the middle, but LSU safety Ronald Martin tackles the receiver before the ball is there. Pass interference on LSU.

Touchdown Alabama! After McCarron drops back to pass, he can’t find a receiver. He also can’t find any LSU defenders in the middle of the field, so he tucks the ball and scampers nine yards into the end zone. Shelley comes out for the extra point and it’s good.

Alabama decides to squib the kickoff, which almost backfires when LSU picks it up around the 25 and returns it to the 50. That will give LSU one chance to throw a Hail Mary, but the Tigers promptly squander it as Mettenberger gets sacked to end the half.

Just what we expected, a low-scoring affair in Death Valley as Alabama leads 14-3. Well, it would have been 14-6 had Les Miles decided not to fake that field goal on fourth and 12. CBS asked Miles about that choice as he headed to the locker room as halftime. His answer: “I should’ve kept that one in my hat.” Gotta credit him for his sense of humor.

LSU cheerleaders are parading around the field with a live tiger mascot during halftime festivities. As someone who went to college at a far-less-spectacular football school (hint: we had sometimes-Arizona Cardinals QB John Skelton), I am mystified.

Important to note the “animal” qualification there. Do you think visitors to Nebraska would be as intimidated by a Cornhusker standing near their locker room, like, “hey, what’s up, guys?” (No offense to cornhuskers.)

So much for momentum. Alabama goes three and out, as McCarron throws it away on first down, Lacy gains six on second, and Barkevious “I know I have the most awesome name in college football” Mingo bats down McCarron’s pass on third.

The LSU defense breaks into the backfield and nearly tackle Lacy for a two-yard loss. Lacy probably wishes he just went down there, because he somehow maintains his balance and runs backward, where LSU downs him for a six-yard loss to set up second and 16.

Lacy gets 11 yards on second down, but on third, McCarron throws slightly behind Kenny Bell, who can’t hang onto the pass. Cody Mandell comes out to reprise his role in The Punter Games. It’s a 33-yarder that LSU’s Beckham fair catches at the LSU 42, giving the Tigers great field position.

LSU mixes it up by having Mettenberger run the option, which is kind of odd given that he’s not fast. He takes the ball in the shotgun, runs to the right and pitches it to Shepard, who runs two yards. LSU runs almost the exact same play on second down, but the pitch sails out of bounds.

On third and seven, Mettenberger drops and fires down the right side to Kadron Boone. He spins out of a tackle and then scampers to the Alabama 36, a gain of 19 yards. LSU is back in Les-Miles-faking-a-field-goal range! Mettenberger can’t get the offense together, though, and LSU burns a timeout to get organized.

Alabama’s Lacy, by the way, has 82 yards on 10 rushes. The running game has been far better than the passing today: LSU’s Mettenberger is 11 for 20 for 111 yards, while McCarron is 9 for 18 for 93 yards.

Beautiful pass from Mettenberger and LSU converts for a first down! Beckham ran an “out” pattern — he lined up on the right side and sprinted straight down field before taking a hard turn toward the sideline. Mettenberger slung a perfect pass to him.

A big penalty against LSU. After two four-yard rushes to set up third and 2, Jeremy Hill is called for a false start. It looks as if he didn’t set himself after going in motion. Now it’s third and 7 at the Alabama 11.

The Tigers are now in danger of losing both their starting safeties this game. After TJ Yeldon rushes for four yards to the left, the Tigers’ Craig Loston stays on the ground after the tackle. He’s helped off the field. Remember, LSU already lost Eric Reid in the first half.

Alabama decides to hand it off to Yeldon, and he fumbles! LSU recovers! It was a poor handoff by McCarron, who put it at Yeldon’s hip rather than in his stomach. Les Miles’s onside-kick folly will not hurt him!

Huge gain for LSU! After Hill rushes for three yards, Mettenberger finds his 270-pound fullback, JC Copeland, on the left flat. It looks as if he’s going to be taken down after just four or five yards, but he breaks two tackles and rumbles — and I mean rumbles — down the left sideline to the Alabama 45. It’s a 42 yard gain for a player who has caught just his second pass this year.

Zach Mettenberger has arrived. After throwing incomplete on first down and gaining just three yards on a short second down pass, he hangs in as the blitz gets to him on third down. But just before he’s slammed to the ground, he zips a pass to Landry, who finds open running room and makes it to the Alabama 18.

LSU isn’t just relying on its ground game any more. After Hill gains two, Mettenberger rolls out left on a playaction before finding Landry for six yards. But Hill gets stuffed on third and two. Will Miles go for it on fourth down?

The measuring sticks are out, and LSU is way, way short. Ware might have even lost some ground on that play. Still, I don’t think this was a terrible decision for Miles. It would have been about a 42-yard field goal, which would have given LSU only a six-point lead.

On third down, McCarron can’t find any open receivers and takes off down the right sideline. He gets only five yards, and Mandell comes out to punt again. McCarron can only hope that Heisman voters aren’t watching because they’re all footballed-out after those exhausting Notre Dame and Oregon games.11:25 PM

Hill gains four yards on first down, and Mettenberger’s pass on second bounces just short of his receiver. But on a big third down, he finds Landry wide open in the middle of the field for 13 yards and a first down.

Mettenberger converts again! Jeremy Hill runs to the left, covered by a linebacker. Mettenberger hits him in stride for a seven-yard gain. Now there’s less than four minutes left. Will Alabama even get the ball back? The ball’s at the LSU 47.

LSU catches a break! After Hill gained four yards on first down, the fullback Copeland appeared to fumble on second down. But here’s the catch: The play was whistled dead because of an LSU false start. Best false start ever for an offense.

Another big play for LSU! Mettenberger lofts a pass to the right sideline, and it looks as if Alabama can intercept it. But Jeremy Hill appears to pluck the ball out of the defender’s hands for a 22 yard gain. It’s 1st and 10 for LSU at the Alabama 32.

Copeland rushes for three yards, and Alabama uses its second timeout to stop the clock. After play resumes, Hill gets stuffed for a loss of three yards to set up a third and 10. But Saban calls another timeout to stop the clock.

Miles waits until the play clock winds down and calls a timeout. It looks as if Alleman will come out for about a 45-yard field goal. Miles is trusting his defense to prevent the Tide from getting to the end zone. He’s also trusting his kicker, who missed from 54 yards earlier this game. This would be Alleman’s career long field goal.

It was going to be nearly impossible for LSU to march 80 yards with less than a minute left, but they still botched that final drive. Mettenberger needed to either throw the ball to the sidelines or deep enough for a first down, but instead chose two dump-off passes to his running back that ate too much clock.

Part 3 of the Alabama-LSU trilogy goes to the Crimson Tide, in a game that was perhaps even more enthralling than LSU’s 9-6 overtime victory last year. With less than a minute left, Heisman candidate quarterback AJ McCarron threw a short screen pass to TJ Yeldon to give acronym-happy Alabama 21-17 win over the Tigers.

It’s going to be tough to choose a game MVP here. McCarron didn’t play especially well, completing just 14 of 27 passes for 165 yards. So I’m going to side with CBS and spotlight Yeldon, who in addition that game-winning catch also rushed for 76 yards on 11 carries.

The win seems that Alabama will keep marching towards what now seems like an inevitable chance to defend their national title, and to win their third in four years. LSU was the toughest date on their schedule, and they might not get tested again until the SEC championship game.

Les Miles of LSU will have a lot to think about before bed tonight. His big gambles — a fake field goal on fourth and 12 in the first half and a botched surprise onside kick in the second — didn’t pay off. Now the Tigers have lost their home winning streak, which dated back to 2009, and also their national-championship hopes. They were No. 5 in the BCS standings and needed most of the undefeated teams in front of them — Alabama, Kansas State, Oregon and Notre Dame — to lose. They could’ve helped themselves Saturday night.

Comments (5 of 84)

You should have joined us LSU fans at Legends Bar. We were in from Houston for Marathon and had a great time. We have a soph. at LSU and father with season tickets. If we couldn't be in Tiger Stadium, Legends in NYC the next best thing. Geaux Tigers!

10:30 am November 4, 2012

Geauxbama wrote:

The Tide didn't so much roll as the LSU defense rolled over in the last minute. Couple that with two certifiably stupid calls by Les Miles and you hand the game to 'Bama...again. Les needs to eat some eggs - they're brain food.

10:17 am November 4, 2012

Auburn.com wrote:

War Eagle

9:26 am November 4, 2012

bamagirl wrote:

Coach says it best 60 minutes of fb Roll Tide!!

9:17 am November 4, 2012

bamagirl wrote:

the champion rose in the swamp!! once again les miles gambled and got burned

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